AL: Development Summit to Take Place in Mauritania Next November

Arab League Secretary-General during his meeting with the Mauritanian president in Cairo. (Arab League)
Arab League Secretary-General during his meeting with the Mauritanian president in Cairo. (Arab League)
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AL: Development Summit to Take Place in Mauritania Next November

Arab League Secretary-General during his meeting with the Mauritanian president in Cairo. (Arab League)
Arab League Secretary-General during his meeting with the Mauritanian president in Cairo. (Arab League)

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has said that the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit will be held in Mauritania next November.

Aboul Gheit discussed on Monday with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani at AL’s headquarters the ongoing preparations for the Summit, in addition to developments in the region and the world.

In his welcoming speech before the League’s permanent representatives, Aboul Gheit said that the meeting with Ghazouani tackled AL’s responsibilities.

The Mauritanian President made a thorough explanation of the current preparations for the Mauritanian elections, according to the spokesman for the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Jamal Rushdi.

The AL Secretary-General congratulated Mauritania for kicking off natural gas production in the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim field at the end of this year, stressing the significance of laying the necessary legislation that would help the country’s social and economic development.

The President met with the League’s permanent representatives, and affirmed that his country backs international and Arab efforts to resolve the armed conflicts in Yemen, Syria, Libya, and Sudan, according to Rushdi.

Ghazouani highlighted in his speech, a copy of which was obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, that developing joint Arab action is inevitable for the sake of restoring security and stability in all Arab states.

The first step toward achieving stability in the region, defeating terrorism and extremism, and establishing sustainable and comprehensive development is to end conflicts in Arab countries and back all states seeking to bring the conflicts in Yemen, Syria, and Libya to an end, he added.

The Mauritanian President further noted that his country supports the Palestinians’ rights.

He looked forward to hosting the fifth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit on November 6-7 to be “a unique stop to revive the joint Arab economic action.”

Ghazouani stressed that resolving inter-Arab conflicts contributes to the Arabs’ collective ability to survive the security, economic, and environmental crises facing the world.

Mohamed Orfy, Egypt's Permanent Representative to the Arab League, expressed his country’s confidence that the upcoming summit in Mauritanian would be a success.

He further lauded Mauritania’s keenness in promoting joint Arab development work in all vital fields in order to reinforce Arab citizens’ social and economic rights.



WHO Chief Calls for End to Hospital Attacks in Gaza after Strike

Women warm by the fire at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on December 29, 2024. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Women warm by the fire at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on December 29, 2024. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
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WHO Chief Calls for End to Hospital Attacks in Gaza after Strike

Women warm by the fire at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on December 29, 2024. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)
Women warm by the fire at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on December 29, 2024. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP)

The head of the World Health Organization on Monday called for an end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza after Israel struck one and raided another in the past few days.
"Hospitals in Gaza have once again become battlegrounds and the health system is under severe threat," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X.
"We repeat: stop attacks on hospitals. People in Gaza need access to health care. Humanitarians need access to provide health aid. Ceasefire!" he added, according to Reuters.
The Israeli military said Hamas militants were the targets of a strike on Gaza City's Al Wafa hospital on Sunday, which the Palestinian civil defense said killed seven people.
Israeli forces also detained more than 240 Palestinians including dozens of medical staff from Kamal Adwan hospital on Friday, among them its director Hussam Abu Safiya, according to health authorities in the enclave and Israel's military.
The Israeli military said the hospital was being used as a command center for Hamas military operations and those arrested were suspected militants. It said Abu Safiya was taken for questioning as he was suspected of being a Hamas operative.
Tedros, who last week was caught up in an Israeli strike against Yemen's main airport that he said might have cost him his life, called for Abu Safiya's immediate release and said the Al-Ahli hospital had also faced attacks.
Tedros said the WHO and partners had delivered basic medical supplies, food and water to Gaza's Indonesian hospital and transferred 10 critical patients to Al Shifa hospital. Four patients were detained during the transfer, he said.
"We urge Israel to ensure their health care needs and rights are upheld," Tedros said.
At least 45,514 Palestinians have been killed and 108,189 wounded in Israel's military offensive in Gaza since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, according to Gaza's health ministry.